From
Tire Review
According to a Nov. 22 Dow Jones report, Groupe
Michelin plans to make inroads “into the lower end of the U.S. tire market,” a segment
the tiremaker sees as being covered by Chinese tiremakers.
Michelin CEO Michel Rollier told a meeting of
European auto executives that it is “considering going it alone after an initial
plan to enter the segment with then partner Hankook Tire Co. fell through,” the
report
said.
Rollier said that 50 percent of the U.S. tire
market is occupied by Tier 2 or Tier 3 brands “that don't offer the quality of
products made by market
leaders Michelin, Bridgestone and Goodyear,” the
report said.
"This isn't a sector that we can
ignore," Rollier said. "I think we'll invest in this activity by
ourselves.”
Yet, Rollier offered no information on how the
tiremaker planned to “invest in this
activity.”
